Visioneer Deepens Sustainability Commitment with “Where There Is a Need” Charitable Program

Visioneer’s Greg Elder with the company’s Mobility Air wireless
scanner.

By Nicole Zaro Stahl
NETWORK Editor

Document-scanning leader Visioneer has broadened its sustainability commitment with the launch of a new corporate philanthropy program, “Where There Is a Need.” The campaign is designed to support “worthy organizations across the globe that provide assistance to people and places in need.”

“Where There Is a Need” is the outgrowth of the company’s very first sustainability initiative, a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. Announced two years ago, that association was an intuitive choice given Visioneer’s role developing an eco-friendly technology that decreases the consumption of natural resources. The company’s scanning equipment fosters a “distribute and print” approach to paper documents, allowing them to be disseminated in electronic form rather than hard copy. Printing can take place as needed or on demand, reducing the waste stream and minimizing the impact on the environment.

Inspired by the numerous disasters that have caused human suffering recently, the new giving program allows Visioneer and its customers to provide direct assistance to individuals in need around the world. Every customer who registers a Visioneer or Xerox® DocuMate® scanner will trigger a $1 donation from the company to a specific cause, international disaster relief effort, or environmental program. The receiving organization will change quarterly.

“The goal of ‘Where There Is a Need’ is to embrace responsibility for our company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through our activities on the people that develop, manufacture and sell our products, the businesses and families that use our products, and the communities and environment we all live and work in,” says Greg Elder, Visioneer’s CFO and Sustainability Officer. “It is our goal that Visioneer’s social responsibility is not merely words on our website, but a fundamental part of how we conduct our business, make decisions, and set our priorities.”

Before launching the campaign, “we talked about this at the executive level, and then our marketing team studied the landscape,” Elder explains. The flexibility of designating a new cause four times per year creates a sense of immediacy by addressing current world challenges. As an example, Elder cites the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake that killed hundreds when it struck eastern Turkey on October 23. “We can target this for first quarter 2012,” he notes.

In keeping with the program’s international scope, the first recipient, in the fourth quarter of 2011, is the U.K.-based Kids Kidney Research. Kidney failure in children disrupts physical and social growth and development, the organization points out. The volunteer-led charity devotes more than 97 percent of contributions directly to research that will help find a cure for kidney disease. The charity was suggested by the managing director of the Visioneer office outside London, Elder relates. “They were in dire need of funds, and one of our employee’s children suffers from kidney disease, so there is a personal dimension.”

Visioneer’s latest product is the Mobility Air, a wireless scanner with built-in WiFi. The cordless mobile scanner works without a computer, cables, or drivers, and scans directly to a smart pad or smart phone (including Android, Windows, and BlackBerry), or to an SD card or USB memory drive.

For more information on how to register products and contribute to “Where There Is a Need,” visit www.visioneer.com.